


Sunflower

by Angryniall



Category: Night Changes - One Direction (Music Video), niall horan - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 01:28:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21739228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angryniall/pseuds/Angryniall
Summary: Florist!Niall falls in love with someone who frequents his shop.
Relationships: Niall Horan / ofc
Kudos: 11





	Sunflower

If you had asked Jess a month ago, she would have told you that she expected her and Jake to be together forever. They had lived together for almost two years and had dated fairly seriously for another year before that.

It’s funny how quickly things can change.

The apartment Jake and her had shared was coming up to be renewed. While the two of them had made it a home for themselves, there were a few issues with the place and they received notification that the rent was increasing. 

Jess had sat down with him simply to discuss whether they should consider looking at other places, but Jake told her that it seemed like the perfect time for them to try being apart for a bit. He had proposed their split so nonchalantly: a small break to make sure that they were really as happy with each other as they could be.

Jake suggested a year of them living apart and trying to see other people. Jess had tried to argue against his asinine plan, but it wasn’t long before she realized that she was being broken up with. It didn’t matter if there was talk about getting back together in a year, she couldn’t fight against the break because he had already made up his mind.

Every way Jake tried to spin their break made it sound like it was obvious that she would run back to him in a year and he’d immediately propose because he would then know they were meant to be.

Jess had only held onto that hope for a few days. When she explained the break to her friends, it wasn’t long before she realized how messed up it was.

After all, Jess hadn’t needed a year apart to know she wanted to be with him. If Jake needed that time, maybe it was a sign their relationship wasn’t as strong as she thought.

Jess used that knowledge to look for apartments that she wanted to build her own life inside. She didn’t want a place she thought would work for a year.

She had gotten lucky, finding a decently sized one bedroom apartment. Jess had a large open concept kitchen and massive windows that overlooked the city. When she first viewed the apartment, all she could imagine was having flowers blooming around the room. 

Jess moved in just over a week ago and slowly worked on getting all of her things in order. She used most of her savings on the security deposit and a new bed.

The other furniture would have to slowly be purchased, but as she unpacked her last box, she started to finally feel like she was at home.

—

Jess’s morning commute had been helped by her move. Her apartment is only a few blocks from the subway station and she now takes 3 less stops than she had from her old place.

Her mornings were normally fairly hectic, as she could never wake up in enough time to get herself looking decent and be at work on time. Most days she chose one or the other, depending on which one mattered more to her at the time.

Her walk to the subway was a blur each morning, she passed people and stores with blinders on. All she cared about was making sure that she made the right turn, got on the right train, and ended up at work.

Normally, her trip home was the same. Jess always had visions of getting home, making her dinner, and cuddling up on her bed with either a book or Netflix playing on her phone.

Things were different today.

Maybe it’s the weather, which seemed to turn on its head overnight. Yesterday, it was hot and humid. Being outside for more than half an hour at a time made her need a long shower.

Today it’s cooled down considerably. There’s a nice breeze that follows Jess on her way home and she lets her pace slow.

There’s a lot of things she notices on her walk home today that she never did before. There’s a small coffee shop just a block from the station. Jess has a hard time believing that she’s never noticed the slightly bitter smell wafting from the small storefront.

Her legs move faster than her thoughts and she’s in front of the counter before she realizes that she wants to try the shop out.

She rolls off her usual order- a hazelnut iced coffee with extra creamer. There’s a few bakery items left at this point in the day and Jess adds the lone chocolate croissant to her order.

She thanks the barista for taking her order and drops the remainder of the cash she has on her into the tip jar before grabbing one of the chairs outside.

I don’t think I’ve ever been happier. The thought hits her quickly and it’s hard for her to refute it. This should be a difficult time in her life: losing her long term boyfriend and moving into a place of her own for the first time, but it seems to be exactly what she needs.

Jess sits back in her chair and closes her eyes. She lets the wind prickle over her sensitive skin for a few seconds. When she opens her eyes, they seem to magically fall on another store that she’s never noticed: Horan’s Horticulture.

Her back straightens as she sees red and purple flowers inside the window. Jess finishes the rest of her coffee and crosses the street to the small shop.

“Hi, welcome to Horan’s Horticulture. Let me know if you need any help!” The guy behind the counter, a shorter guy with brunette hair quiffed at the front, calls out when Jess enters.

Niall has owned this storefront for a couple of years now and has slowly built up his clientele. He has quite a few regulars at this point: older women who drop by every Sunday after church to grab a bouquet to leave on their husband’s graves, middle aged men who wink at him when they make their purchases as they lament how they need to get back into the good graces of their missus.

Over the years, he’s also had quite a few one off customers come through the doors. Niall likes to think he’s good with faces so he wouldn’t forget a customer. It’s hard for him to know who is coming into the shop and might become a regular, so he tries to always be personable enough for each customer to want to come back.

Jess returns his greeting with an “evening” and a wave as she looks around the shop. She knows exactly what she wants as she’s had the same favorite flower since she was a young girl.

Jess wanders around the store as her eyes trace over the plants and flowers inside. From the outside, she never would have anticipated there would be such a variety held inside the walls. Yet everything is clearly marked and organized.

Jess does a walkthrough before realizing that the store might not have what she was hoping to find. She heads up to the counter at the front and her eyes trail over the name tag of the worker. “Hey Niall, do you have any sunflowers?”

“I believe I have some in stock over here.” Niall opens the counter and meets her on the other side.

He’s worked hard to make sure his inventory is organized. Not only does it make it easier when people inquire about a certain flower, it’s necessary when dealing with species who are sensitive to sunlight, water, temperature, you name it really. Sometimes Niall thinks if he breaths near certain plants too often, they wilt.

“Oh!” Jess gasps as Niall leads her to a spot in the front corner. Right in front of her are the sunflowers. “Must have missed them.”

She apologizes to him, but Niall’s mouth is slack as he watches her reaction when she notices the flowers. Her brown eyes widen and a smile forms on her lips, almost instinctively.

Niall tries not to play favorites amongst his plants, but if she were to ask him what flower he loved the most, he’d probably say sunflower because her reaction reminds him of why he chose to become a florist in the first place.

“N-no issue,” Niall stutters out. His hands are uncharacteristically sweaty and he makes sure to rub them on his pants once, twice, three times before he reaches for the few flowers he has. “Sorry, there's only a few left, this isn’t a very popular flower.”

As soon as the words leave his mouth, he regrets it as Jess’ face drops slightly. He can tell that she tries to play it off, but her smile has lost the genuineness that left him speechless just a few moments before.

“Don’t know why, though,” he continues, “absolutely gorgeous flowers. Imagine it’s hard to be upset when you’ve got a few of these in your house.”

“Exactly! They’re my favorite flower. They just remind me of happiness and laying in the grass on a warm fall day.”

“Well, I’m glad I had some in stock today then.” Niall smiles, “do you know how many you want?”

Jess counts the number in his hand, a total of 9, as she thinks about how many would make a nice bouquet. Niall watches her nose scrunch up as she’s deep in concentration before she answers, “how about 5? Just a small bouquet’s worth. They’ll honestly probably just wilt on my kitchen counter until I toss them out and buy some more.”

Niall bursts out laughing and Jess can’t help but notice how vibrant his laugh sounds. It seems to ricochet within her, causing her spirits to brighten just by hearing it. “Well, I promise I’ll order some more next shipment for you if you need to come buy some more.”

He doesn’t normally do this- mention customers who aren’t regulars coming back. Niall’s aware that flowers are a luxury for most people. Yet, he finds himself hoping that he gets to see the girl who loves sunflowers again.

Niall leads her back over to the counter and grabs one of the bouquet wraps. He takes his time cutting the ends off with shears so they’ll be ready for her vase back home.

“So where did you shop before this?” Niall asks, trying to start a conversation and prolong their interaction. “Promise I won’t gloat about stealing business if I know the owner.”

Jess laughs as she watches Niall expertly prepare her favorite flowers for her. “Would you be shocked if I said you’re my first florist? Only been living on my own for a few weeks now and the place is just begging for sunflowers.”

Niall shakes his head, “not shocked but I am honored.” He wraps the bouquet up and wipes his hands before grabbing a couple packets of flower preservative for her. “If you give them a packet every couple of days, they’ll take less time to wilt.”

Jess smiles as she digs around in her bag for her card, “Sounds perfect! Thanks Niall.”

He rings up her purchase on the register and lets her swipe her card. “No problem, that’s what I’m here for.” Niall licks his lips as he waits for her payment to go through. “Sorry, I don’t think I got your name.”

“Oh, Jessamina!” She smiles and puts her hand out for her new florist to shake, “but everyone just calls me Jess.”

Niall’s eyes are wide, but Jess doesn’t seem to notice. She signs off on the slip and takes her bouquet and thanks Niall again before she’s out the door.

———-

Each day that passes without Jess coming into the shop has Niall more on edge. He knows that he shouldn’t expect her to come back in the next day, since the flowers should last a few weeks, but he can’t get her out of his mind.

When it’s time for him to order a new batch of flowers, he orders twice as many sunflowers as he usually does. Since they tend to not be a solid seller, Niall only purchases bulbs which have already bloomed. When they’re delivered, he’ll keep them alive until someone wishes to purchase them.

Having his flowers planted allows them to last longer in a vase once they’re purchased than if he just had some stems waiting out.

While there is an occasional customer who wants live plants, Niall knows that most people who come into the shop only want a bouquet. Yet, he cares deeply about the plants themselves and enjoys getting to know the different species and what care works best for them.

Niall is keeping track of one of his new species, the Marshmallow flower, when he hears the door ring. “I’ll be right with you.” He hollers out and his neck snaps up when he hears Jess reply.

It’s been almost 3 weeks since the first time she was in his shop. For the first week, he jumped every time he heard the door ding. It is ironic that when she does actually come back in, Niall’s on his knees in the back checking if he’s killed a new flower he got in by giving it ½ tablespoon more water than he had the week before.

Niall takes a deep breath and leaves his notebook by the plant. He washes his hands in the sink and rolls the sleeves of his polo up just slightly before walking back out to the counter.

He sees Jess already in the corner with the sunflowers. “You came back!” Niall smiles as he opens the counter and heads over to her.

Jess turns to face him when she hears his voice and smiles, “I did! And you kept your promise to get more sunflowers. Hopefully they’ve been selling better now that they’re easier to find.”

Niall can’t believe how fast his heart beats when he sees her smile. It’s weird for him to be attracted to a customer of his and his worst fear is that it’s obvious and he’s going to scare Jess off.

If she notices anything, she doesn’t say it. Instead, she turns back to the sunflowers and her eyes light up just as they had the first day. Niall wonders if her eyes shine like this every time she saw the bouquet she purchased last time.

It brings peace to Niall thinking that he had a part in her happiness over the past few weeks.

“I did! Wanted to make sure I had enough in stock. I like to grow most of the flowers myself, so I made sure to get enough that I can continue to seed and grow them.”

Jess turns to him and Niall is on the receiving end of her radiant smile. It takes his breath away and he almost misses her question, “You’ve grown all of these?”

“Most of them. Hold on,” Niall lifts a finger at her to wait and he heads to the back room to grab the notebook he was working out of.

When he’s back out front, Jess has moved closer to the counter and Niall turns the notebook so she can see. “I do ones that I’m most interested in and the ones that sell best. It’s cheaper to use seeds from the flowers you’ve already bloomed than having to keep buying bulbs.”

Jess nods as if she understands the mathematics of running a florist business as she leans over to look at the notebook.

There’s pictures that have been taped onto each page and small notes about how they grow best, with sections marked out in black ink.

“Some flowers, like Snapdragons, are almost impossible to kill. I can throw them anywhere in the store and they’ll still grow. Others, like Orchids, need very specific care.”

Niall flips through the notebook until he lands on the page that’s mostly scribbles for his Orchids. “Real bugger. I try to find the best combination so all my flowers will grow and stay alive until they’re sold, but with my strain of orchids, it seemed like the smallest change would kill them.”

“Seems hella frustrating,” Jess places her head in her hands as she leans on the counter. It’s been a while since she’s talked to someone with this much passion about anything.

Niall nods, “it was. Honestly, I doubt I’ve optimized their care but I got so bloody tired of killing them that I found something that worked and just kept at it.”

“Orchids must mean a lot to you if you went through all that trouble.”

Niall leans back and tsks, “not really. They’re pretty popular flowers though so I thought it was worth it.”

“Oh.” Jess frowns and Niall starts to feel insecure that he’s said something but then she tilts her head and questions him further, “so what’s one that does mean a lot to you?”

Niall is almost buzzing as he knows the exact flower, the one that started his journey. “Spring Squill.”

Jess pushes back from the counter with an embarrassed smile as she looks around the store. “I’ve never heard of that. You’re going to have to show me.”

Niall nods and leads Jess to the area with an almost constant spraying of water. He points out a small, blue flower.

When Niall doesn’t offer up any more explanation, Jess laughs. “Come on! You’re just going to say it’s your favorite with no explanation?”

“Ah, not favorite.” Niall corrects her. “I don’t play favorites. But it’s a special one to me, yeah.”

Niall grabs a few of the plants to carry with him back to the counter. “They’re my mom’s favorite. I was the same as you as a kid, I never understood why. Part of me thought it was because my dad loved to get mom flowers every month after all our bills were paid. We had a limited income, so I thought it was her just spitting the shit, saying that they were her favorite because they’re so cheap.”

“But she told me that when my dad took her on their first date, he wanted to get her flowers. Spring Squill are native to Ireland, so my dad just stopped on the way to her house and grabbed a few handfuls because he couldn’t afford a proper bouquet.”

Niall smiles as he thinks about his parents and the love story that inspired him to start his own shop. “Always stuck with me. Flowers can have such a powerful impact on people, you know? It doesn’t have to be the popular flowers- roses, orchids, or whatever flower couples like to give each other. Even a flower as insignificant as the Spring Squill can be special.”

Jess’ eyes search his face as he tells his story and her smile slowly widens as his story progresses. “So is that why you opened this place?”

Niall leans onto the counter and he’s hyper aware that they’re mere inches from each other. “It’s why I got into them, yeah. But once I started growing my own plants, I just fell in love with the process. Then after I finished my A-levels, I didn’t really know what to do. I stayed with various family members, couch surfing and the like you know? Ended up in Chicago, fell in love with the city and decided I wanted to stay.”

Niall widens the gap between the two of them as the part that he hates discussing comes up. He clears his throat, “my parents got in a car accident a couple years back. They both passed away before I had a chance to return to Ireland.”

Jess gasps, “I’m so sorry.” 

Niall is used to that reaction at this point, but he shakes his head. “Honestly, they were the only reason I had to go back really. I got enough from insurance after paying for their services to start the shop up and give me a good cushion in case it didn’t work.”

Niall clears his throat again and Jess tries to ignore the tears that form at the bottom of his eyelids as he looks over the flowers that he’s cultivated. “Plus, doing this makes me feel closer to them.”

Jess follows his gaze around the store, letting him take a few moments to collect himself. “I’m sure they’d love it here. You can tell how much love and care you’ve put into everything: the flowers, the organization. It’s hard to not enjoy coming into the shop.”

“Yeah?” Niall meets her eyes and he feels lighter. It’s easy to believe what she’s saying.

Jess smiles, “Yeah. Honestly, I’ve thought about coming in here a lot since I first got my sunflowers. But I have very limited space in my place and had to actively talk myself down from coming and grabbing more until the ones I had were on their last legs.”

Niall nods, wondering if he should admit that he had been hoping that she would come in as well. “For the record, you can come in anytime. Promise I won’t hassle you to buy anything. Most people pop in for a couple minutes, grab the flower they came for and go on their way.”

Jess digs her nail into the counter as she bites the inside of her cheek. After a few seconds, she looks up to him nodding. “Might be fun to learn some trade secrets.”

Niall laughs, “as long as you promise not to open a competing business.” He wraps the sunflowers Jess chose with the Spring Squill he picked into a bouquet. Niall’s never thought about putting them together but they look nice.

He enters the sunflowers into the register and Jess frowns, “make sure you add in the Spring Squill.”

“Nope, we’re good.” Niall smiles, “It’s nice to send it off with someone, it’s not a flower many want.”

Jess sighs and shakes her head. She’s quite headstrong and she refuses to take free flowers from Niall. “Come on, let me pay for them.”

“Nah, it’s a new sale. Buy a sunflower get a spring squill free.” Niall leans forward on the counter, challenging her to protest.

Jess looks at the bouquet and her eyebrows fall. “If that’s the case, I bought 5 sunflowers and there’s only 3 Spring Squill. Are you trying to scam me out of my free flowers?”

It’s hard for her to keep a straight face as she has always been the person to tell jokes through giggles. Jess succeeds with getting the joke out but she falls into laughter shortly after when Niall’s jaw drops. He has a second of shock before his laughter joins hers.

“You caught me!” Niall has to bite back the smile that's threatening to take over his face as he heads back to grab the remainder of the Spring Squill he owes Jess. 

——

Jess delicately places the bouquet into the cup on her kitchen counter. She scolds herself for forgetting to pick up a vase, once again.

Before she moved into the apartment, she received flowers maybe a couple times a year. Jake would normally get her roses shipped to the apartment she shared with her friends in college then to work once she graduated. The bouquets he sent normally came with a vase, but they all ended up lost or forgotten by the time Jess moved in here.

Her original trip to Horan’s Horticulture was unplanned and Jess could have sworn that she had a vase laying around her apartment at the time. Despite frantic searching, she eventually admitted that she was wrong and didn’t have one. She grabbed a large cup from her kitchen cabinet: a souvenir from one of her zoo trips.

For a couple days, Jess considered slipping back into the shop to grab a vase. Or rather, she thought about using a vase as a reason to head back into the shop.

There was something about Horan’s Horticulture that had Jess wanting to go back. Walking into the organized clutter of the store had her skin feeling electric.

Jess held back the urge until her first bouquet was starting to wilt. She doesn’t want to be that person who enters a store and “just browses.” Honestly, she knows the guilt she would feel would cause her to continuously buy flowers, which her budget cannot support.

She had decided that morning, while her coworker’s monotone voice droned on in a meeting, that she would finally visit Niall’s shop again.

Partly because her original bouquet was starting to wilt, but largely because the shop calmed her. After a long day at work, spending a few minutes enveloped in flowers could help settle her nerves.

Of course, the few minutes she planned quickly turned into over an hour once she and Niall got to talking. It wasn’t until she walked into the kitchen that she remembered that she forgot to buy a vase.

“Oh fuck,” she shakes her head as she places the beautiful bouquet into a worn plastic cup. Jess figures that since Niall did invite her to hang out at the shop, she can just grab one tomorrow.

Jess runs her fingers along the delicate blue petals of the Spring Squill. As her conversation with Niall about the flowers replays in her mind, she realizes that the blue of the flower is reminiscent of Niall’s eyes.

A smile forms on her face and she can almost see Niall in the flower. Suddenly, she steps back from the counter. Shit. I like him.

It’s not a feeling Jess is new to. Even when she was with Jake, she would crush on someone else from time to time. But it never felt real, since Jess knew that she would never act on it.

Things are different now, though. Realistically, something could come from this. It’s been over three years since Jess has had to deal with a crush that might end up being more and that scares the shit out of her.

———

Jess wrestles with the decision to head back to the shop after work. There’s a large part of her that is excited to hang out with Niall more but the loudest part of her wants to run away from it all, change her route home, and never step foot in the shop again.

She wrestles with the decision for most of the day. It’s not until she’s a block from the store that she finally makes up her mind.

Jess’ heart is pounding in her ears as she heads into the shop. 

“Hey!” Niall looks up at her from the counter and the overwhelming beating of her heart immediately slows.

This is what she likes about him. Despite her nervousness the entire day, she immediately feels calm within his presence.

“Hey Niall,” Jess smiles, “I came to learn all your secrets.”

For the first time, Jess notices a dimple in Niall’s cheek when he smiles. Her eyes focus on it for longer than necessary. 

It isn’t until she notices Niall waving at her that she realizes that she missed his response. All the blood in her body runs to her cheeks and she hopes that it isn’t obvious that she was staring at him. “Sorry, I missed it.”

Niall shakes his head and tries to ignore his heart, which is screaming at him that Jess was staring at him. He licks his lips, “um, wanted to know if you wanted to see the new plant I just got in.”

“I’d love to,” Jess squeezes her wrist in an attempt to calm herself down. Now that she is aware of her attraction to Niall, it seems to be all she can think about.

Niall leads her behind the counter into the backroom. It is just as crowded as the front of the shop and Jess notices the zones that Niall’s created. There’s areas that are shielded from the light with a sheer curtain, an overhead mister over a portion directly underneath a window, and flowers under heat lamps.

Niall turns towards her and stretches out his arms, “Here’s my workshop. Most of these I already know their care. I try to only take on one new species at a time so I can dedicate most of my energy towards them.”

“Wow.” There’s so much to take in here. Jess moves slowly around the room, looking at the different types of flowers. She notices that most of them have laminated signs with notes about their care.

Niall waits for her to come back to him. He’s excited to show her the new flower that he’s been working with. It takes everything in him not to call her back over to him.

He bites the inside of his cheek to quiet himself and he watches as she pauses at each of his notes, almost as if she’s in a museum. Niall notices which flowers she spends longer looking at. In their few weeks apart, he has to admit that he has wondered what species she would be drawn to. 

He has a little satisfaction when he hears a small gasp from her when she sees the Thomas Edison Dahlias. Niall thought she would love them. He even wondered about doing a pre-made bouquet with them and sunflowers in the hopes she’d pick it up.

In truth, Niall’s found that when he’s working on his bouquets each morning, his mind wanders to Jess and thinking about which flowers are reminiscent of her and wondering which bouquet she would pick from each day’s selection.

Niall’s completely enamored with Jess by the time that she’s made her way through all of the flowers and ends up next to him.

“So which one are you working on now?”

Niall does a fanfare sound and then pretends to do a drumroll. Jess bursts out in giggles and joins him in the drumroll as he jazz hands over a white flower with a purple center. “The Marshmallow flower!”

Niall has to hide his glee at how wide Jess’ eyes go as she exclaims, “wait like THE marshmallow?!”

“Well, not anymore. But yes, the flavor used to be derived using the root of this plant.” 

“Wait wait wait….” Jess holds her hand up to him as she grabs her phone out of her pocket. A few clicks on her screen later, she’s shoving the device in his face. “We can make our own marshmallows using the root!”

“You want me to chop up my own plant!” Niall’s sure that the feelings he has for Jess are clearly written on his face at this point. She’s just so cute getting all excited over the flower.

“Yes! Do you grow cocoa too? I wonder if we can make our own chocolate as well. We can make homemade s’mores!”

This time he fails to contain his laughter. “It sounds fun, Jess, really. But cocoa comes from a tree and look around. No trees.”

Jess’ face immediately falls into a pout and Niall shrugs, “Sorry.”

The silence stretches between them and Niall tries to quelsh the overwhelming thoughts in his brain telling him to just kiss her. Jess is fixated on the dimple in Niall’s left cheek, which always seems to appear when she makes him laugh.

They catch each other’s eye at the same time and both realize that they’ve been staring at each other. Heat rises quickly to both of their faces.

“Thanks for letting me see back here. But I should really be getting home.” Jess is almost out of the shop before Niall processes what she said.

Shit. Shit. Jess tries her best to regulate her breathing as she climbs into her bed back at her place. She knows how close she was to kissing him and that is terrifying. What if they get together and it takes him three years to realize that he doesn’t actually like her? She can’t handle being tossed out again.

———-

Niall doesn’t think Jess is going to come back into the store. He doesn’t know why she ran out so quickly, but the days go by without her coming by to offer even an explanation.

It isn’t until Saturday rolls around that Jess comes back in the shop. Normally, Saturdays are fairly busy for Niall and today is no different. Jess immediately notices the contrast between the empty shop she’s seen after work and the bustling of customers shopping for dates.

Niall is ringing up a customer’s order when he hears the door. He momentarily freezes when he sees Jess, but he has to get past his shock quickly to finish up the sale.

Jess takes a deep breath, willing herself to move closer to the counter. She’s worked herself up for this for days now. Of course, she didn’t expect to have such a busy store to do this in. “Hey Niall.”

“Morning Jess.” Niall’s smile is strained and Jess hates that she’s memorized his genuine smile enough to know that he’s pained to see her.

She takes a look around the store, noting the space between the two of them and other customers before lowering her voice. “Can I talk to you when you have a minute?”

“Yeah,” Niall says then sighs, “Saturdays are normally fairly busy most of the morning. If you want to come back later, I’d understand.”

Jess bites the inside of her cheek, considering her options. She’s had to talk herself into coming here already. If she goes home, she might not have the courage to come back. Then she remembers the cafe she was in the first time she came here.

“Do you drink coffee? I’m gonna pop into the store across the street, I’ll bring you some?”

Despite his frustration with her, he can’t help but smile at her offer. Niall nods and tells her his order quickly before waving over a customer who was waiting for Jess to move so they could check out.

Jess sends him a small thanks, glad that she can do something for him before heading to the cafe and grabbing their order. She takes her time mixing sugar into her drink before heading back to Horan’s Horticulture.

There’s more customers in the shop than when she left and Jess starts to process that she might be here for hours before she can tell Niall what she wants.

She heads to the counter where Niall has a line at the register. Jess slides him the drink with a smile before walking around the store to wait for him to have a free minute.

It’s hard for Niall to focus on the customers when his entire mind is screaming at him to just talk to Jess. He’s been wanting her to come back around for days, but of course when she does, he’s got a thousand customers coming in and out of the store.

It’s a good hour and a half before things die down. Even once the last customer leaves, Niall fluffs up one of the bouquets he made before heading over to Jess. His heart is pounding out of his chest as he makes his way over to her. “Sorry about that.” He picks at the cuticle of his thumb, “and thanks for the coffee.”

“Anytime.” Jess smiles delicately and her fingers run over the petals of one of the flowers as she tries to muster up the courage to do what she came here for.

“I just wanted to apologize for before.” Jess clears her throat and lets out a small sigh before admitting, “We were having a moment and I realized that I really like you.”

Niall instinctively moves closer to Jess, a large smile forming on his face as he takes in her confession. “I really like you too,” He says automatically as his hand finds her wrist.

Niall is ready to wipe off the past few days immediately, but Jess needs him to know. She holds up a hand against his chest, stopping him from closing the small gap between them. Jess tries to ignore how soft he feels underneath her palm and her heart quickens and tries to convince her to kiss first, talk later.

Niall looks at her curiously, but respects the distance she’s putting between them.

Jess continues, “I just got out of a relationship. We were together for three years, there were no major fights or signs that things were ending and then… it was just over. So falling for someone else is scary and I let my fear take over.”

“I’m sorry,” Niall whispers, his hand enveloping hers. He doesn’t understand how someone could be with her and not be engulfed in love.

“But I came back today because I realize that you’re not him. Whatever happens doesn’t have the same trajectory and I don’t want to run from something that could be great because of something that wasn’t.”

Niall’s smile takes over his entire face and he nods his head towards the backroom. “Let me show you something?”

Jess nods wordlessly and follows him. Niall opens up the door of one of his glass cases and pulls out a beautiful bouquet in a glass vase. Jess recognizes some of the flowers, but Niall starts to explain before she can ask.

“I was enamored by you from the first time you came into the store. I build bouquets each morning before the store opens and I’ve been messing around with this combo since the day I met you.”

Niall pulls one of the sunflowers out of the vase, “Think this one is pretty obvious why it reminds me of you.”

Jess tilts her head and smiles as NIall continues, “When you mentioned how much you loved sunflowers, I could just see your entire face filled with love. I hoped that one day, you’d look the same way when you talked about me.”

Niall tries to calm the angry blush that is threatening to overwhelm his face. He’s not usually one to discuss his feelings like this, but he wants her to see that what they have is already great. It can only get better.

He grabs the purple flower that Jess had been obsessed with since the last time she was in the shop. “Thomas Edison Dahlia’s. I’d been hoping to show them to you because they’re just such gorgeous flowers. I imagined you would love them as much as your sunflowers. Then when you came back here last time, I noticed your reaction to them and I knew that they needed to be included.” Niall shrugs with a small laugh as he admits, “Plus they just look stunning with the sunflowers.”

Jess giggles as she moves closer to Niall. She wants to cut the distance between them now, but she’s interested in what other flowers remind him of her.

Niall’s face softens as his eyes catch hers. He pulls out a familiar blue flower, “Spring Squill. Mostly because I hoped that I would end up being a part of your life.”

Jess can’t contain herself. She closes the gap between them and her body is pressed against his. Her mouth is inches from his, but he has to let her know about the last flower.

“Jessamina.” He whispers and pulls back slightly, placing the beautiful white flower between them. “Because of course someone as passionate, beautiful, and electric as you has to be named after a flower.”

Jess reaches her fingers out slowly, taking her namesake between them. Her breath is caught in her throat and she looks up at Niall for only a second before their lips finally meet.


End file.
